මාතෘකා
Farmer Rights
SWRD Bandaranaike always recognized that Sri Lanka was basically an agricultural country and rice the basic staple food of the people. Strengthening and improving the condition of the paddy farmer – the cultivator who toiled in the field was central both for the reduction of endemic poverty and greater rice productivity. Traditional land tenurial systems were such that the tiller of the land was not adequately compensated for his toil. He therefore moved to revolutionize the age - old system of tenant sharing (ande) of the produce of the paddy land.
Where the landlord had previously received three - quarters of the share of the produce of the field as his right of ownership, henceforth by the operation of the Paddy Lands Act of 1958 the tenant was to receive half the produce and the landlord the balance after providing other inputs as well. In addition the tenant farmer was entitled to security of tenure and could not be dispossessed of his right to the land except under judicially prescribed conditions.